Travel with Pets - Moving a Pet Long Distance

(I tried various searches and couldn't find a similar thread.)

I have friends who are moving from South Carolina to Colorado next month. They will be flying, while shipping their cars. With the heat restrictions on air travel for pets this time of year, they are looking into how best to get Fido to Colorado. Suggestions? Have you used a pet transport company with good results? (I believe it's one medium sized dog.) Thanks for the input!

I have not personally. But, a friend bought a puppy from MN that was flown on a mainline jet via a service. All arrangements went very well. He had to pick up his new family member at BWI. :D

why not ship one, drive one. that way Fido gets to stay with the family.The Humane Society advices against traveling by air.
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/traveling_tips_pets_ships_planes_trains.html

having transported pets by car I would say it's not bad.

If they do use a pet transport company - I don't know of any personally - be sure to check out references, reviews etc. I would worry too much to send my pets by air without me.

United doesn't allow pets as baggage anymore, but they do ship them as cargo. More expensive, but better tracking and handling, and there doesn't appear to be any temperature embargo except for out of Dubai in the summer.

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/animals/default.aspx

Obviously, nonstop travel is best when possible.

If your friends can travel separately, having one go ahead so that they can be there when Fido's plane lands is ideal. Or leaving Fido with a friend and asking that he be shipped a few days after they've arrived would be another option.

You can get lots of great advice here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-pets-645/

While this thread is certainly fine in OMNI, we're going to move it to our Travel with Pets forum leaving a permanent redirect here in OMNI.

__________________

Cholula
OMNI Co-Moderator

I just drove my two dogs from Atlanta to San Diego. After looking at all options it seemed the best way to go. We rented an suv, a chevy traverse with a bench seat in the second row. We stopped every few hours at rest areas and stayed at pet-friendly hotels, Radisson, Holiday Inn Express, La Quinta. It went really well and seemed a much better alternative than flying them. The various pet transport companies charge a lot. Some fly the pets, some drive them. As an extra bonus, it was actually a fun trip!

(I tried various searches and couldn't find a similar thread.)

I have friends who are moving from South Carolina to Colorado next month. They will be flying, while shipping their cars. With the heat restrictions on air travel for pets this time of year, they are looking into how best to get Fido to Colorado. Suggestions? Have you used a pet transport company with good results? (I believe it's one medium sized dog.) Thanks for the input!

One of my co-workers just drove his Mom and Dad's 14 year old dog from Dallas to Seattle. His parents are elderly and so is the dog. They flew and their dutiful son drove their car and the dog. I think it was the smart way to go. Your friends should really consider driving one of the cars and take Fido in the car. Beloved pets take extra effort to make arrangements for moving, I just can't ship a family member like cargo.

Thanks for moving the thread - I completely forgot there was a Travel with Pets forum.

I'll forward your responses to my friend. Thanks for your help!! :)

why not ship one, drive one. that way Fido gets to stay with the family.The Humane Society advices against traveling by air.
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/traveling_tips_pets_ships_planes_trains.html

having transported pets by car I would say it's not bad.

If they do use a pet transport company - I don't know of any personally - be sure to check out references, reviews etc. I would worry too much to send my pets by air without me.

I'd ship one car and drive the other, with the dog.

I definitely WOULD NOT FLY a dog during the summer. It is too hot. I have known people whose dogs died while being transported by an airline in the summer. especially between the cities you mentioned.

I have flown with my dogs from Sacramento to Denver via Delta - no stops, it went well, but it was in a cooler time of the year. I drove last year in late June from CA to Hilton Head S.C. and they did very well. SC to CO really isn't that long of a drive, and the dogs would do well. There are pet transports that are excellent if they don't want to drive, but how are they getting their car to CO? Would highly recommend the driving route at this time of the year.

I have two dogs and want to shift them dogs to Rochester but due to some reasons I was unable to shift them. Then I tried to contact some removal companies. They help me to move my dogs to Rochester NY.

Why not ask your DVM? He/She has the best answers.

Why not ask your DVM? He/She has the best answers.
Why would you assume that?

I have complete trust in our vets for the cats' medical care, but frankly the advice I received from one on traveling with a cat was just plain wrong. Since then, I've actually been able to teach the vets a few things about long distance travel with cats, and they've shared the advice with other pet parents.

Not every aspect of animal care is taught in vet school.

we are involved with brittany rescue. these rescue people transport dogs all over the country. if the dog is of a particular breed, contact the rescue agency, and make a sizable donation to go with the dog.

we "pulled" a great dane from a shelter in southern maryland last week. although we are "brittany rescue people", there was no one else in southern md to pick up this guy whose "time had run out". took him to a vet, and a one week holding. from there, great dane rescue picked him up and moved him to pittsburg.

our brit from someplace in kentucky was moved by another rescue group, and brought to dc area for us.

we have picked up a number of dogs for the richmond to dc leg(we do I 95) as they get moved from someplace south(like florida) to someplace north(like new england).

there are also some people who fly the dogs in a private plane. (tax reasons). contact the breed rescue to find out about getting the dog moved. sometimes mixed breeds get mixed in with the brits. we have moved as many as 3 dogs at once. they also do not necessarily go to the same place. i have greatest respect for the effort the "transport" people and the effort they put in to save the dogs.

we are involved with brittany rescue. these rescue people transport dogs all over the country. if the dog is of a particular breed, contact the rescue agency, and make a sizable donation to go with the dog.

we "pulled" a great dane from a shelter in southern maryland last week. although we are "brittany rescue people", there was no one else in southern md to pick up this guy whose "time had run out". took him to a vet, and a one week holding. from there, great dane rescue picked him up and moved him to pittsburg.

our brit from someplace in kentucky was moved by another rescue group, and brought to dc area for us.

we have picked up a number of dogs for the richmond to dc leg(we do I 95) as they get moved from someplace south(like florida) to someplace north(like new england).

there are also some people who fly the dogs in a private plane. (tax reasons). contact the breed rescue to find out about getting the dog moved. sometimes mixed breeds get mixed in with the brits. we have moved as many as 3 dogs at once. they also do not necessarily go to the same place. i have greatest respect for the effort the "transport" people and the effort they put in to save the dogs.
I drive transports fairly regularly, and there are some who will not move a dog without the person being screened by a rescue, even if the dog is going back to the person. Others will not move a dog to make it easier on the owner. Some may, although you may face a lot of discontent from some who figure that you were simply unwilling to move your own dog.

Keep in mind that transports are typically made up of multiple volunteers, and if the trip will take more than 1 day, overnight stays are needed for the dogs. This means that someone has to open their house to the dogs for the night, and typically they'll either drive the last leg of the day before and/or the first leg of the next day.